Drilling-cable.



T. GORE.

` DRILLING CABLE.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP Z.

1,055,326, Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

'rnfoMAs GonE, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

DRILLING-CABLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

Application filed February 7, 1912.` Serial No. 675,982.

To aZZ whom izhmay concern Be it known that I, THOMAS Gone, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of` the borough of Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Drilling-Cables, of which the following is aspecification.

The cable of my present invention is designed primarily'for drillingpurposes, and I Will describe the same in that connection.

The drilling of oil wells, etc., is usually accomplished by the Vraisingand loweriug of a drilling tool which is'suspended on the end of a longcable, the cable being paid out as the bore increases in depth. It is aknown fact that the cutting is due more to the sharp impact of the toolthan to the mere Weight of the tool,, and hence the practice is to givethe cable a suap at the end of each downward movement so as to throw thetool With percussive force into contact With the material. In order toget, this I Snap at the end 1of the stroke the cable must bemore or lesselastic in its nature, for it is by the stretchin'g and reboundingaction of the cable that the suap is obtained. For this reason, Manilaor fibcr cables have usually been employed heretofore for drillingpurposes, since these were the .only

- Cables possessing suflicient elasticity for the Work. The use ofManila and fibcr Cables is, however, attended with'certain diflieultiesand disadvantages--for instance if water is encountered 4the Cableswells u and loses its elasticity. Then too these ca Jles become frayed,and unravel; in some cases unraveling to such an extent as to choke upthe bore. Steel cables, while possessing the necessary durability andbeing immune to the effects of water, nevertheless Cannot be usedsuccessfully because they are not sufficiently elastic. It has beenattcmpted to Combine the advantages 'of the two different types of cableby attaching a so-Called cracker ,f of Manila cable (perhaps two orthree hundred feet long) onto the end of a steel cable-but at best thisis a make-shift and has not proven very satisfactory.

Having explained in a measure the difficulties encountered in drillingwork, I Would state that the object of my invention is to secure in asingle cable the strength and Wearing qualities of a steel cable,together with the flexibility and elastic qualities of'the Manila cable,so necessary to successful drilling operations. I

Accordingly my invention consists in a preferred form of twistedsubstantially nonelastic strands, and cushions of elastic compressiblematerial interposed between the strands. The strands' are usually madeup of twisted steel wires, and the elastic cushions are prefcrably inthe form of strips of vulcanized rubber.

Various other objects and features of the invention will appear as thespecification proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated my invention in aconcrete and preferred form but I Would have it understood that chanfresand modifications such as come within the scope of the ap ended claimsmay be made therein without eparting from the spirit and scope of theinvention, And I would state at this point also that while m inventionis of particular utility for dril ing purposes, I do not by any meansintend to limit it to this particular purpose.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is an elevation of a section of rope or cableconstructed in .am-,ordance with and embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional view of the same. a

According to my invention I Construct the cable of a number of strands 3Which.

themselves are twisted, the wires Comprising" the strands willpreferably be twisted in one directionl while the strands themselvesWill be twisted in the opposite direction. This `or normal length.

method of twisting the strands in a direc-l t-ion opposite to the lay ofthe individual wires has a tendency to balance the internal twistingtensions of the rope and'prevent' the rope from twisting or Spinning toois provided with a core such as indicated at.

5 in the cross-sectional view, around which the strands are laid.

The Wire strands composing the body of the rope areV substantiallyinelastic and incompressible in their nature, so that if no other meanswere provided, the cable itself Would be so inelastic as to be unsuitedfor drilling and other like purposes for which it is intended.Accordingly I place between these substantially incompressible strands,cushions of `elastic and compressible material. These cushions arepreferably in the form of strips 6 which are laid in between thestrands. These strips may be made of any suitable material, and thematerial `which I have so far found best suited to this purpose isvulcanized rubber or rubber composition, and I have accordinglyillustrated the strips as made of this material in the drawings. Thecushioning strips may be made in different shapes and different meansmay be employed for Securing the strips in position between the strands.In a preferred form the strips are made with oppositely facing concavesides 7 and with somewhat broadened base portions 8, so that as shown inFig. 2, the st-rips will fill in the interstices between the strands andthe broadened base portions of the strips will be interlocked beneathadjoining strands so as to secure the strips in place.

In order that the functions andl operation of the 'cable may be fullyunderstood, I would explain that the action of the cable is to becomparedv to that of a spiral spring. It is well known how when adrawing tension is placed on a spiral spring theM convolutions of thisspring will separate and the,

spring will 4* Stretch out. In the same way when the sudden tension isplaced uponmy cable, the strands will Compress the interposed cushioningstrips whereby a lengthening or stretching action of the cable will beproduced, just as in the case of the spiral spring. Now When the tensionis removed or lessened, the cushioning strips will expand back to theirnormal dimensions,l

thereby drawing the cable back to its true' This in brief is the man"-ner in which the snap is produced'when4 the cable is used for drillingpurposes the cable stretchesl out` when the sudden strain is placed uponit and then rebounds under of Manila or other fibrous material, but ifdesired, greater resiliency in the cable may be secured by making thiscore of the same material as the Cushioning strips, such a s vulcanizedrubber or rubber compound.

lVh'at is claimed, is:

l. A drilling'cable composed of twisted wire strands, and strips ofvulcanized rubber interposed between the strands and held in place byhaving their base portions interlooked between adjacent strands.,

2. A ,drilling cable made up of wires twisted in one direction to formstrands, said strands twisted together in a direction opposite to thelay of the wires to pro- 'vide the body of the cable, and strips ofelastic compressible material twisted in between the strands and securedm. place between adjacent strands. A

3. Means for adding elasticity toa cable' of twisted substantiallynon-elastic strands, comprising strips of compressible elastic materialtwisted and secured in place between adjacent strands.

4. Means for adding elasticity to a cable of twisted substantiallynon-elastic wire strands, comprising strips of vulcanized rubber twistedin andsecured in place between adjacent strands, whereby upon a heavystrain being applied to the cable the strips Will be compressed by thestrands and thus allow the strands to lengthen out somewhat, while uponlessening the strain the strips will exp-and to return the strands backto their normal twisted len th.

. A drilling rope compose of wires vtwisted together to form strands,the strandsb so formed being ,twisted together in a 'direct-ion oppositeto the lay of the wires lessenin of the strain, expand to restore thestrands ack to their normal twisted length.

[i, A cable for drilling or like purposes 'comprising strands' made up'of twistedV wires, the .said strands being twistedptogether into a cablebody, and strips Iof' elasotic- Cushioning material secured in placebetween the relatively non-elastic and noncompressible wire strands,whereby when a strain is placed upon the cable the elastic 'cushioningstrips will be compressed by the relatively non-compressible strands tothereby permit the strands to lengthen out after the nature of ahelical-spring, and said cushioning strips rebounding upon relieving of.the strain to restore the strands sto their 'original twisted relation.

'7. A relatively elastic drilling cable com-- i prising substantiallynonelastic strands York city in the county of Kin s and State t-Wistedtogether into a cable body, and of New York, this lst day of Fe ruary A.D. strips of compressible and elastic Cushioning 1912.

material twisted in between the strands to THOMAS GORE.

x 5 form spiral cushions separating adjacent Witnesses:

convolutions of the strands. LEICESTER LoCKWooD, Signed in the boroughof Brooklyn, New I ROBERT J. SCHNEIDER.

